In a Monday interview with Boston NPR affiliate WGBH, the former FBI chief said that a Democratic president acting in a manner similar to Trump's would cause heads to "explode" among those on the right.

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“I am a little bit numb to the president’s threats and tweets because there is nothing there,” Comey, a sharp Trump critic, told the news outlet. “Then I stop myself, because it’s wrong for me or anybody else to become numb to the president of the United States announcing that a private citizen should be prosecuted."

“I say that slowly because I hope Republicans listen to it and realize that if a Democrat were president and did that, their heads would explode," he continued. "So my question is, why are your heads not exploding now?”

In the same interview, Comey cast doubt on speculation that acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker would take action to hamper the special counsel investigation into Russia's election interference and the Trump campaign, adding that he expected Whitaker to know the consequences of such an action.

Democrats have raised questions about Whitaker's appointment following revelations of his past comments about the investigation, which he told CNN last year could be hindered by an attorney general willing to starve it of funding at the behest of the White House.

“He may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, but he can see his future and knows that if he acted in an extralegal way, he would go down in history for the wrong reasons,” Comey said, according to WGHB. “I’m sure he doesn’t want that.”

Comey and Trump have been at odds for months following the media tour for the former FBI director's book, "A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership," which released earlier this year and included comparisons of the president to an organized crime boss.